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I have noticed since I got my truck, that I have had to keep adding coolant and hadn't been able to see where it has been leaking out. Never thought to take the oil filler cap off though, for when I did to do an oil change on it, I noticed the creamy coffee color scum on the filler cap and all under it.

The oil on the dipstick shows no indication of any contaminants in the oil, so I guess thats what tricked me. Lately it put up a misfire code in one of the cylinders, so I can only assume that is the cylinder that the coolant is getting into and throwing off the firing in that cylinder.

Diagnosing and finding out if its a blown head gasket or worse a cracked water jacket or warped head etc, is beyond my humble abilities, but I wonder if I shouldn't go the route of swapping the engine out for something with a lot less mileage on it. The current engine has 295k km's on it ( service calls all over the place, so alot of highway driving and some heavy trailers pulled as well) and I called a local wrecker and he has one with 99k on it for $1800.

So I am thinking of firing up the mig and building myself an engine hoist and maybe a stand as well and just swapping out the motor. Have never did an engine removal before, but know how to take out bolts and unplug harnesses and can take lots of pics.

Really, the choice is yours. If you are going to be hanging on to the truck for a while and you use it ALOT, it may be beneficial to just swap out the motor with a one with lower miles on it. But.....you take a chance on not knowing the condition of the motor you are getting (but most of the time they are pretty good).

But before i would go that route, test compression and perform a block test (tests radiator vapors for combustion gasses). each of those are very simple test to do and can find videos on youtube to do.

Also if you are thinking about performing a engine swap yourself, EricTheCarGuy on YouTube.com has a video where he actually swaps out a 4.7l on a 3rd gen. its a really good video and very detailed on the steps needed.

The funny colored gunk on the filler cap is perfectly normal, it is just condensation
you will see it in all the 4.7L in your area

You will have to look other places for your leak
under the lower part of the water pump there is a WEEP hole, if there is wetness there, your water pump may be going bad

Really, that crud is normal..I will snoop around and see if got any leakage around water pump, didn't really look any further when seen that gunk for figured that was the problem concerning coolant loss.

That's a pretty good pile of miles (or KMs in your case) but that doesn't mean it doesn't have some good ones left in it. GTyankee is dead on. That white creamy sludge under the oil filler cap and in the filler neck are a result of condensation building up under there. It's pretty common on the 4.7L engine. The biggest contributing factor is temperature. Your cold climate probably has something to do with it but short trips where your engine doesn't get to full temp to burn the excess moisture off is usually the biggest culprit. You should also change the PCV valve if you don't know when it was last performed. This will help make sure your engine is getting the ventilation it needs. It's easy and the part is cheap but it might be a dealer only item. I would keep looking for that coolant leak. If your oil is clean as you say I doubt very seriously it's going there.

You also mentioned that coolant may be leaking into a cylinder. Have you noticed any white smoke coming form your exhaust or a sweet smell from you exhaust? That would definitely indicate you are burning coolant.

You also mentioned that coolant may be leaking into a cylinder. Have you noticed any white smoke coming form your exhaust or a sweet smell from you exhaust? That would definitely indicate you are burning coolant.

That is an assumption on my part right now, for I am getting an engine code of a misfire on cylinder 7, and thought that was where the leakage was getting in and messing up the spark.

After the truck has sat for a day and when I first accelerate down the street (not first fire it up) I sometimes notice the fog that billows out of the tailpipe, yes.

That's a pretty good pile of miles (or KMs in your case) but that doesn't mean it doesn't have some good ones left in it. GTyankee is dead on. That white creamy sludge under the oil filler cap and in the filler neck are a result of condensation building up under there. It's pretty common on the 4.7L engine. The biggest contributing factor is temperature. Your cold climate probably has something to do with it but short trips where your engine doesn't get to full temp to burn the excess moisture off is usually the biggest culprit. You should also change the PCV valve if you don't know when it was last performed. This will help make sure your engine is getting the ventilation it needs. It's easy and the part is cheap but it might be a dealer only item. I would keep looking for that coolant leak. If your oil is clean as you say I doubt very seriously it's going there.

I will throw another PCV on her, but I am on the fence about dropping too much money on an engine with as many klicks on it as this one, as opposed to dropping $2k on another engine with less than half the mileage on it. Could be issues with the engine from the wreckers, but I would imagine the odds would be in your favour.

Think I'll pick up the compression tester and the block tester as well, be worth it to have them even if go with the other engine.

Yeah, i would test it and weigh out your options are then. Also, it wouldnt hurt to purchase an inline spark tester (one that is C.O.P capable) to test the spark on cylinder 7. Its less than 15 bucks, and not a bad tool to have around too.